Case study
University of Western Cape
A worldwide search for a company that could both design and supply a Highly Immersive Visualisation Environment (HIVE) to the University of Western Cape (UWC) came to an end when the University met the Virtalis technical team. The Virtalis designed HIVE is sited in a brand new, custom-built unit within the Department of Applied Geology.
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was captivated by the Virtalis designed HIVE when he officially opened the facility. When the Virtalis team sent a virtual wasp to buzz near his head, he let out a whoop and his trademark giggle. He said, “This is an amazing, amazing contraption.”
“With funding provided by BP, financial and resource commitments from the University, and excellent technical support from Virtalis, we expanded our original idea of a Virtual Reality (VR) facility into something much bigger. We realised pretty quickly that the Virtalis team is unique because they make all this technology work together, so the University accepted that they are the best people to do the job. We can always pick up the ‘phone to them in the knowledge that they will provide knowledgeable and specific support, an approach which, in my experience, is uncommon in modern business.”
Prof. Paul Carey, Chair of Petroleum Geology at UWC and director of the BP HIVE
THE VIRTALIS SOLUTION
Part of the ActiveWorks portfolio of immersive display systems, the ActiveWall is Virtalis’ best selling interactive 3D visualisation system, being both cost effective to purchase and efficient to run. The UWC two-channel rear-projected ActiveWall features blended Christie Digital Mirage WU7K-M active stereo projectors and a custom 7m wide screen, controlled by Virtalis StereoWorks control software. The projectors each have a resolution of 1920 x 1200 and have 6300 ANSI lumens brightness.
Movements within the ActiveWall’s environment are tracked using the Intersense IS-900 wireless Simtracker inertial-ultrasonic tracking system. This added functionality alters the perspective of the visuals according to the user’s position and orientation within the scene. The hand held controller allows the immersive experience to be enhanced further.
The supportive IT infrastructure, provided by a central Dell server coupled with a dedicated optical fibre line, links 30, high-end, 3D modelling computers with the Virtalis ActiveWall and the postgraduate research suite. This, in turn, connects the HIVE to the University’s multi-terabyte data storage system via 10Gb network connectivity, enabling high speed data transfer and modelling of very large data sets.
